Everyone enjoys the freedom that they find when they get their first driver’s license and vehicle. Unfortunately, the occasion doesn’t always end joyously for everyone. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that motor vehicle wrecks are the leading cause of accidental deaths for those between the ages of five and twenty-four. In addition, these crashes remain the second leading cause of death throughout the life-cycle after the age of 24. Fortunately, knowing why this danger exists can definitely help a person avoid it.
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1 Speeding
Speeding is a huge factor in motor vehicle wrecks. It’s far more difficult to control an automobile or brake sufficiently when a person is speeding. Many lawyers will tell you, whether it’s a Virginia car accident attorney or a coroner in San Diego, excessive speed is cited as a factor in one-third of all fatal crashes, so it’s obviously a dangerous behavior.
2 Driving Under the Influence
Data from 2009 shows that 32 percent of all fatal crashes were caused by drivers who were over the legal limit of alcohol consumption. Alcohol reduces a person’s ability to drive safely, and thus, it’s excessively dangerous for everyone on the road.
3 Distracted Driving
Distracted driving can include texting, talking on a cell phone or any other behavior that distracts a person from the task at hand. In 2010, about 18 percent of wrecks involving injuries were caused by some form of distracted driving behavior.
4 Fatigue
Driving fatigue has been shown to be exceptionally dangerous. Some statistics show that one in every five automobile wrecks in America are caused by fatigued driving. Research has actually proven that being awake for 24 hours puts a person at the same level of alertness and safety as a person who has a blood alcohol content of .10. Sadly, more than half of all of these accidents are caused by teenagers behind the wheel.
5 Teenagers
It’s a simple truth that teens aren’t the safest drivers in the world. They are inexperienced and at time influenced negatively by peer pressure. This is why many states have restricted new drivers to only having one passenger of a specific relationship (ie. family member) in a vehicle with them.
6 Aggressive Driving
Aggressive driving is another exceptionally dangerous behavior when behind the wheel. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, for instance, found that aggressive driving, commonly known as road rage, could be related to up to 56 percent of fatal crashes in America.
7 Environmental Conditions
Unlike the aforementioned collision causes, wrecks caused by environmental conditions aren’t always the fault of a driver. Intense snow or heavy downpours can make it unsafe for anyone to be on the streets. While there’s no doubt that some people increase these risks by engaging in other unsafe behaviors, environmental conditions can in themselves lead to wrecks.
8 Road Hazards
Bad roads are another serious cause of accidents. An individual may be driving perfectly fine until they go over an unseen pothole on the Interstate at 70 miles per hour. Although they may be going the legal speed limit, this type of road hazard can easily cause a person to lose control of their vehicle. In addition, several other road hazards, like road work or unsecured loads on trucks, can lead to serious injuries.
The most important thing for a person to remember is this: driving is a privilege. Although individuals may have no control over some of the aforementioned causes, the majority of them are completely preventable. Only when everyone starts to view driving as a responsibility to be taken seriously will motor vehicle deaths show a serious decrease.